Still undecided after Gabrieli's non-event

Michelle and I went to the Chris Gabrieli meet and greet yesterday at the Eagles Hall in Leominster, and I came away from the event just as undecided as I was going in. Nothing I heard from him convinced me to vote for him, and nothing he said drove me to Deval Patrick (Tom Reilly was eliminated from my consideration long ago).

The event itself was poorly organized and to whatever extent organization is important to any of the 150 or so who waited for him to arrive, he wouldn't have scored any points there. Gabrieli was 45 minutes late, there wasn't enough food for everyone who came, the sound system was balky, and the Eagles Hall kicked everyone out at 6:30 because they had another event scheduled for 7:00.

Michelle said Gabrieli stayed in the parking lot and answered questions for another 15 minutes after the hall was cleared. While that was polite of him, I'm not sure the picture of a candidate for governor holding court in the parking lot because he was late for his own event and the hall he had rented kicked him out is the one Gabrieli wanted to paint.

Mind you, this won't have a lot of bearing on my decision. I consider myself to be someone full of great ideas who has a hard time organizing a trip to Market Basket, so I'm not apt to disqualify Gabrieli based on his apparent disorganization. Even so, I have to wonder how effective he will be putting together a government or whipping up votes in the hardened legislature if his people can't run a simple campaign event.

Gabrieli spoke for about 10 minutes before entertaining questions from the crowd. He talked most about his ability to "get results" ("Getting Results" is his campaign slogan) and tied a series of life experiences and legislative initiatives he has championed as proof. He also spoke about not promising things he could not deliver and contrasted that trait with Paul Cellucci ("On time on budget" in 1998 in reference to the Big Dig), George Bush ("Mission Accomplished") and Mitt Romney's abandonment of the state for his presidential run.

From a policy standpoint, I only heard him talk in detail about two of his initiatives: the need for extending the school day and school year, and his position on the income tax rollback. (I had to leave at 6:15, so I missed the last half hour or so of questions and parking lot banter).

Regarding the school calendar, it is his position that the current calendar is outdated. He believes that the need for more education in order to secure better jobs is great enough that students should be spending more time in school. He also argues that kids can better spend their afternoons in school than at home alone with so many families needing both parents at work.

I wonder how much a plan to extend the school year would cost, as teachers would demand (rightly in my opinion) more compensation for longer school days and school years. I also wonder what the economic impact would be on businesses that count on students working afternoons or summers. Still, I think an extended school day and school year would be a step forward.

On the income tax rollback, Gabrieli is neither in favor of keeping the tax rate at 5.3% or in favor of an immediate rollback to 5.0% as voted in 2000 by referendum question. His plan would tie any rollback to the tax revenues from the previous year. As I understand it, he is proposing that 40% of a surplus be used to fund a tax rollback, 40% would be returned to cities and towns in the form of local aid, and 20% of it would be banked in the "rainy day fund" to offset potential deficits in the future.

What was not clear to me was if the amount to be returned to taxpayers would be in the form of a rebate, or a reduction in the next year's tax rate. If it is the latter, is Gabrieli suggesting that the tax rate would become variable and could drop below 5.0% or rise above 5.3%? Or is it only variable within the 5.0% to 5.3% parameters? Or would it only go down as the state draws surpluses but never rise in other years, until finally hitting a floor of 5.0%? Gabrieli did not elaborate on the point. His TV ads suggest reading his plan at his web site. I guess I'll have to do that to get all of those details.

In the end, he didn't move me one way or the other. Most of his positions are similar enough to Deval Patrick's that in the end I'll probably vote for whoever I think can best implement their plan. Gabrieli could have won my vote last night and he did not. He didn't lose it either.

Tags: Massachusetts Leominster Election 2006 Governor Democrat Primary